§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Energy what conclusions the National Coal Board's chief scientist for Scotland has reached following his analysis of the length of copper piping taken from near the Polkemmet Bing and supplied by the hon. Member for Linlithgow to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Wirral, West (Mr. Hunt) on 16 December; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David HuntThe National Coal Board's monitoring of the fumes at the Polkemmet Bing has shown that the levels of hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide at the perimeter of the burning Bing are less than one part per million; concentrations at nearby properties should be even lower because of dilution. Experts believe that these low concentrations would not be a health hazard, even though they have unpleasant odours and are capable of discolouring some metals such as copper.
The section of copper pipe which the hon. Member passed on to me on 16 December has been examined by 552W the Scottish area of the NCB's chief scientist, with the assistance of the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh. They conclude that the discolouration of the pipe is a film of copper sulphide, which is to be expected given the prevailing conditions at Polkemmet. I shall be writing to the hon. Member to give him the details of the reports.